


The Candle

by DisasterJones



Category: Game Grumps, Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF
Genre: Anxiety, Baking, Birthday Cake, Disappointment, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fear, Gen, Multi, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-04 15:13:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10281884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisasterJones/pseuds/DisasterJones
Summary: "She’s here! It’s time-Shit.She forgot the candle."





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [memeicorn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/memeicorn/gifts).



Holly doesn’t have much time left - Suzy will be here any minute.

The kitchen looks a mess, but the beautiful three-layer red velvet and dark chocolate cake (complete with rather snazzy piping decorations, if she does say so herself) has been completely worth the hassle.

She folds her hands into her apron, wiping away the flour and cake residue and smears of frosting. The front door swings open, casual banter and the sounds of traffic pouring in, and it nearly makes Holly jump out of her skin. She’s momentarily struck stiff like a deer in the headlights. Focusing hard on the chatter, she easily picks out Ross’ sharp laugh first - Arin’s erratic cackle gives him away immediately after.

Her eyes flit back and forth as she listens for the telltale sign of her Guest of Honor, waiting to hear the honey sweet laughter filling the space between the boy-noise. Suzy’s voice really was the most pleasant thing Holly’s ears were regularly graced with. She was so easy to make smile, and Holly loved her smile even more than her laugh.

A slow trickle of panic leaks into her stomach as her eyes fall on the cake; was it too cliché? Too on the nose? Does Suzy maybe, despite her aesthetic for everything else, maybe just want a normal cake? Oh, god - what if she doesn’t like red velvet? Or dark chocolate? Or both? Had she told her that before? Was she allergic? Shit, she’s not allergic to chocolate is she?!?! What if-

Ross’ face suddenly comes into view, obscuring the cake with a wide grin at first, but upon seeing her expression, quickly softens, humor lost and love gained.  
  


“Hol? Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

“I’m- It’s-”

  
Her voice cracks and she averts her gaze, tears spilling over before she even realizes they’ve formed. Where did this anxiety come from? She had been friends with Suzy for years, had shared so many birthdays together, had surely eaten enough cakes together.

Holly chastises herself for her panic, her logic taking swipes at her anxiety, but she may as well have been trying to turn the cake into vegetables for all the good her reasoning did. No matter how she tries, intrusive and anxious thoughts continued to flood in, drowning her resolve and breaking her floodgates open.

Effort to restrain doesn’t seem to matter as sobs break through her lips, loud, blubbery and gross. She feels gross. How is she supposed to have a good time with her friends when she can’t even figure out if she got the cake right? What kind of friend gets like this on someone’s birthday?

She doesn’t register Ross coming around the counter until he’s carefully sliding arms around her from the side, light hands lovingly caressing her midsection, but she only musters strength enough to lean half-heartedly against him. A hand settles upon hers on the countertop, and her gaze follows the arm up to see Arin’s gentle expression.

  
“Hey- oh, uh, sorry.”

  
His hand twitches and hovers above hers hesitantly, but Holly’s pained gratitude must have made it across, because Arin smiles and his hand returns, reassuringly brushing her thumb with his own.  
  


“It uh, it looks really good, Holly,” he murmurs, keeping eye contact with her.

  
It’s simple, such a tiny phrase, such a tiny moment, but it catches some of the flow - the dam starts to rebuild. His face is sincere, his gaze soft, unthreatening, kind. Holly understands how Suzy came to love him. Arin seemed easy to love. A tiny smile pulls at the corner of his lips as he nods in the direction of the cake.

  
“Suzy’s gonna freak, she loves red velvet.”

Relief. The flood of fear starts to slowly evaporate.

“Really?”

  
She had never really thought of Arin’s smile as beautiful before, but the toothy grin he gives her melts away the rest of her stress. It looks just like Suzy’s, and Holly can’t help return a soft smile of her own.

  
“Yeah really! It’s one of her favorites, she gets it all the time. Normally, I think she gets, like, cream cheese frosting or something, but-” he plunges a finger into the bowl of leftover frosting and promptly sticks it in his mouth. If possible, his smile widens as he savors the dark chocolate ganache, “she’sh really go’n luff thish.”

“Thanks Arin,” Holly replies, heart warm and head finally clear.

  
He responds with an enthusiastic nod as he licks his finger, looking back and forth between Holly and the bowl meaningfully. A shy blush creeps across the apples of his cheeks, but before he can ask, she just chuckles and hands him a spoon.

The front door opens again. Holly’s heart skips a beat.

She’s here! It’s time-

Shit.

She forgot the candle.

Holly hurriedly pulls the special candle from her apron pocket, an ornate gothic-inspired “28” fitted with a tiny black butterfly, and places it in the center of the cake.  
  


“I’m sorry I’m late!”  
  


Holly’s heart sings a little and all her worry flutters away. She lights the candle quickly before rushing around the front of the counter, quickly motioning for the guys to stand on either side of her to block out the cake. The door closes and the familiar sound of her gentle socked gait through the walkway closes in, accompanied by her melodic voice.  
  


“I wanted to get a birthday coffee but there was a really long li-”  
  


As she turns the corner, she sees them, looking awkward and definitely-not-at-all-suspicious. The look she gives them almost breaks Holly’s concentration - a laugh threatens her lips but she holds it back.  
  


“Okay… what did you guys do?” Suzy inquires, smirking at them with a hand on her hip.  
  


They all step away in unison, waving their arms and presenting the cake, and Holly watches Suzy’s face. Her perfect face that absolutely lights up at the sight. She rushes forward and sets her coffee down on the counter, closely inspecting the piping. Holly’s heart swells three sizes too big for her ribcage - she’s grinning and marveling at it like it’s the first time she’s ever seen a cake.  
  


“OhmyGOSH you guys! This is so pretty!”

  
Suzy turns away from the cake and looks expectantly at her, eyes shining like the sun-drenched sea - Holly finds herself thinking Arin a very lucky man to be able to see that face all the time.  
  


“Holly did you make this by yourself?”

“Yeah - just barely finished in time before you got here, actually.”

“Wooooww…”  
  


Suzy sneaks a peek at the cake and then takes an impish look back at Holly, whose head cocks a little bit in confusion. Then Suzy’s dainty index finger dips into the side of the cake, taking some of the ganache with it into her mouth. The laugh that Holly had barely been containing erupts forth.  
  


“Oh my god, you two are _made_ for each other.”

“Thish ish SHO GOOOD!”

“Hey, that’s what I said!”

“And with that, I rest my case.”

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on [tumblr](http://sindoo.tumblr.com/post/158371647378/microstory-prompt-12-candles-with-hollysuzy)


End file.
